Nationwide, 19.4 million renting households (out of 39.7 million total), or 49 percent, pay more than 30 percent of their total income in rent.

The number of existing homes listed for sale declined last month to the lowest level for September since 2005.

Increased demand for rental housing has led to a considerable shift upward in multifamily construction.

Sales of new single-family houses in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 313,000, or 5.7 percent above the revised August rate.

Calculated Risk reported that S&P/Case Shiller’s monthly Home Price Indices for August (actually a three-month average of June, July and August) indicate that home prices, when seasonally adjusted, declined.

The average number of days that homes have been on the market is 107, according to financial news site 24/7 Wall St. The site identified 10 cities where homes are on the market the longest.

Some analyses are suggesting the housing market might finally be turning around. Two JPMorgan analysts authored a report that states home prices, demand and building are all set to increase.

President Obama announced a plan on Monday that will give mortgage relief to hundreds of thousands of Americans, including an initiative that will make it easier for homeowners to refinance and avoid foreclosure.

In early July 2011, CoreLogic believed consumer spending would remain slow because housing price trends had a stronger negative wealth effect impact on consumer spending than the positive wealth impact of stock prices. Since then, equity values have